


Maybe

by pique



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst and Feels, Ficlet, M/M, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 18:47:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11697696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pique/pseuds/pique
Summary: "Here," he says, offering his hand. "This should work, right?""It always has done." Sergio nods, reaching forwards. His fingers are perilously close to Geri's.





	Maybe

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't posted anything in forever, and I apologise for that. Updates to my other WIPs are forthcoming.
> 
> This is a soulmate AU where soulmates can both feel and heal each other's injuries/illnesses. It is set before the Miami Clasico match. Sergio's been battling ear problems all summer, poor guy.

He searches for Sergio in the mixed zone. This is, after all, where he said he would be.

Geri stretches and paces, stretches and paces. No one will suspect his behaviour is anything out of the ordinary. It is two hours before El Clásico – and playing Real Madrid is always an intense affair, whether it's supposed to be a friendly match or not.

Unfortunately, seeing his soulmate is always an intense affair as well.

Geri counts his breaths, willing them to slow down.

He spots him in the farthest corner, gesturing towards a side door. It seems as though wherever they go, Sergio always finds a way for them to be alone. Geri wishes he didn't. It isn't healthy for either of them. Merely knowing they _have_ this bond is bad enough.

"Come on Geri, we haven't got much time," Sergio says as Geri closes the door from behind him.

"Let me guess," Geri replies with a low murmur. "We're here because of your ear."

"It's been driving me mad." Sergio smiles, but there is no humour in his expression. "The constant ache –"

"The vertigo, the entire world spinning around you even when you're lying flat." Geri interrupts. "Then there's the horrible feeling of fullness, and no matter what you do, or where you turn, you can't relieve the build-up of pressure in your head."

Geri's reply stops Sergio in his tracks. He stares at him for a moment, and Geri isn't sure how to read his expression. Uncertainty, embarrassment, resentment – perhaps a combination of all three.

"You've felt it too." Sergio sighs.

"Not constantly, but it's been there," Geri says. Although the sessions have been brief and intermittent, he's been only too aware of the ear issue Sergio's been suffering with all summer.

"You know I wouldn't ask you to do this unless I had to." Sergio's voice is barely more than a whisper now. "I hate punishing both of us. But I haven't been able to do anything at all since I flew out here, and nothing the doctors have given me has helped. That's why I asked you to meet me."

 _Was there no other reason_? Geri wants to ask, because he needs to know if Sergio feels their bond as intensely as he does. If thoughts of him consume almost every waking moment of Sergio's day.

A heavy silence lingers, and Geri senses Sergio's growing discontentment as he waits for an answer.

"I don't resent doing this for you." Geri finds he means the statement with utter sincerity. "Here," he says, offering his hand. "This should work, right?"

"It always has done." Sergio nods, reaching forwards. His fingers are perilously close to Geri's.

The last coherent thought Geri has is that he hasn't had nearly enough time to prepare for this. He knows the effect touching Sergio has on him, and usually, he can cope with a pre-match handshake or a coming together on the pitch. But he isn't ready to cope with this.

Their fingers lace together and the heat between them is electric. Geri marvels at how right it feels for Sergio's hand to be in his. He wills himself to stay alert and coherent, but he longs to be lost in the flow; to drown in Sergio.

Resisting the impulse proves to be too much for him.

Geri closes his eyes, revelling in the energy the two of them have created. The oneness, the completeness, it feels _so_ right. Soon, he is giddy with euphoria, and he doesn't want to come back down to earth. The soul bond runs riot whenever they're this close to each other, like it's happy, like this is the way the universe is meant to be.

Except that it isn't. Because neither Sergio nor Geri will _let_ it be.

"That's enough!" Suddenly, Sergio pulls his hand out of Geri's grip. The pain of their abrupt separation is torturous. Geri shakes himself, becoming acutely aware of all the noises surrounding them – the buzz of the fluorescent lightbulb above them, somebody's iPhone going off in the hallway, and the voices in the mixed zone – the voices seem louder than ever.

"It dulled your hearing," Geri says. "Whatever was wrong with your ears, it dulled your hearing."

"And yours too by the looks of things." Sergio stares into space, smiling ruefully. "Thank you," he whispers. "For helping me."

Geri swallows hard, scarcely able to take his eyes off Sergio. He isn't sure he can keep doing this – walking away, and pretending like their soulmate bond doesn't even exist.

"It's getting stronger, isn't it?" Sergio asks, meeting Geri's gaze.

"Yes." Geri can barely muster a reply.

"I think about you all of the time."

"Same here." Geri looks at him longingly. "It'll never go away you know. It's what's meant to be."

"What do you think will happen if we continue to live separate lives?" Sergio's face is etched with concern as he asks the question.

"I don't know, but it worries me," Geri replies. "I feel like it's going to tear me apart."

"I feel like it's already tearing me apart."

Geri is taken aback by the candour of Sergio's confession. "Maybe we could do something about it," Geri suggests.

"In the future, when our playing careers are said and done." Sergio adds.

"Maybe," Geri says, not wanting to hope, because he doesn't want to deal with the disappointment if Sergio changes his mind.

"Maybe," Sergio replies, offering him a smile before he leaves the room.


End file.
